A final decision on a four-story sports and medical complex planned for a prominent location in Superior Town Center was put off to later this week, after the Board of Trustees engaged in nearly six hours of debate over the proposal on Monday.

They agreed shortly before 1 a.m. to take the issue up again at 5 p.m. Friday.

Discussion about the 160,000-square-foot sports complex, which likely will be called Boulder Valley Ice and Indoor Sports at Superior and could attract up to 1.6 million people a year to its ice rinks and turf fields, centered on building appearance, materials and who should pay for the nearly 470 parking spaces needed for the facility.

A robust debate was had over whether parking at the complex, which will include an attached 60,000-square-foot medical building, should be the developer's primary responsibility or a shared public cost borne by future residents of the town center.

Trustee Sandy Pennington made the loudest case for not placing all the costs of building a parking structure on the public.

Boulder Valley Ice and Indoor Sports at Superior would serve as the anchor for the 157-acre mixed-use town center at the intersection of U.S. 36 and McCaslin Boulevard. It would feature 2 1/2 ice rinks with locker rooms, a full size indoor soccer/lacrosse field with locker rooms, an indoor pool, a retail pro shop, and a coffee shop.

Advertisement

A 26,911-square-foot mezzanine area inside the complex would include spectator seating, a community room and a grill with kitchen.

The medical office building planned for the site would feature a pharmacy, imaging center and emergency care facilities on the first level and Cornerstone Orthopedics, currently located in Louisville, on the second floor. The third and fourth floors of the building would be leased as medical offices.

There would also be a 21,000-square-foot sport training and therapy facility, which would have a basketball court and two volleyball courts, as well as a full size weight room.

The sports facility would be open from 5:30 a.m. to 2 a.m., 360 days a year.

Boulder is pretty good at producing rock bands, and by "rock," we mean the in-your-face, guitar-heavy, leather-clad variety — you know, the good kind. For a prime example, look no farther than BANDITS. Full Story